News

IC PRSSA Chapter's Annual Swish Event Raises Money for Make-A-Wish

Ithaca College’s Chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America hosted its annual “Swish for Make-A-Wish” basketball tournament on April 20 in the Mondo Gymnasium in the Fitness Center on Ithaca College’s campus. The tournament raised money for the Central New York Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization dedicated to granting wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. This year, IC PRSSA teamed up with a new organization on campus, IC Wishmakers, to help make this event as successful as possible. This event raised over $2,000 in monetary donations through the online donation form, raffle tickets, team registration fees and other monetary donations.

The tournament, which took place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., was split into one pro and one semi-pro bracket. There were teams of five to 10 players, and games were played five-on-five. Fourteen teams participated and each player donated $10. The winning team of the pro bracket was 99 Problems But A Pitch Ain’t One, and the winning team of the semi-pro bracket was ­­Seymour Butts. Each winning team received a gift basket with a variety of prizes, including gift cards from local businesses and college-themed trinkets. In total, about 200 people attended the event.

“We really had a successful Swish this year. Players kept coming up to me and saying how great the event was, so it’s nice to see that all our hard work paid off,” said Lauren Quigley, vice president of Ithaca College’s PRSSA Chapter, who is also an IMC major graduating in May 2015. IC PRSSA members and student volunteers helped with registration, raffles, keeping score, keeping time, photographing the event and refereeing.

IC PRSSA President and IMC major, Lindsay Tomaro, said, “We raised more money this year than any other year before. My e-board and I are extremely proud of this accomplishment. Throughout the entire process, it was awesome seeing more donations come in, because we knew that meant more wishes could be granted to kids who really need them. We couldn’t have done it without our sponsors, volunteers and players, so we thank all of them very much.”

IC PRSSA has been hosting this event for several years. Swish for Make-A-Wish is the largest event that IC PRSSA hosts all year, which requires a lot of planning. Every Tuesday, chapter members met in committees to plan all aspects of the event, including fundraising, promotions and publicity. This event gives members a chance to delve into all aspects of event planning, including dealing with corporate sponsors, designing promotional materials and writing public relations materials.

For more information on IC PRSSA, log onto www.ithaca.edu/orgs/prssa or follow IC’s chapter on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PRSSA.IC) or Twitter (@IC_PRSSA).